Currently, the prevalent method of wound treatment is to cover a wound with a wound dressing. The wound dressing is manufactured as a precut sheet of multi-layer material of various shapes and sizes. The wound dressing is applied to cover the wound and often a portion of the surrounding healthy skin. Sometimes the wound dressing is cut to reduce the size and to better fit the wound size and shape. This reduces the amount of healthy skin covered by the dressing.
A typical wound commonly has two or more different regions or areas, including necrotic, sloughy, bacteria colonized, granulating, epitheliazing, bleeding, exuding, and drying, which are surrounded by healthy skin tissue. The wound and its areas are usually of irregular shapes. Consequently, covering the whole wound area and surrounding healthy skin with the same dressing type may create adverse conditions for certain areas of the wound or the surrounding skin, which may increase the healing time or even cause adverse effects such as secondary dermatitis.
Some of the principals of wound treatment are: (a) to keep wound moist, (b) to control excessive exudates, and (c) to keep healthy skin dry. However, the intensity of exudation can vary as the wound heals. As a result, a dressing, intended for several days of use has to be able to adapt to the changing wound conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for addressing a wound that provides the optimal targeted moisture control conditions for wound healing by matching the size, shape, and water and water vapor retaining properties of a wound dressing to the targeted wound areas and changing wound conditions. There is a further need for an apparatus to produce such a wound dressing.